Monday, August 25, 2008

Hey Everyone,

My little sister recently had a miscarriage. She wrote this poem and it is an honor to post it on my blog. Please pray for her.

Angel Baby

Jesus is he with you?
I wonder every day
I sit and wonder why he's gone
And why he could not stay

Every part of me is empty
I fell I can't go on

But then I look to heaven
I hear this beautiful song

Mommy I am with him
He holds me in his arms
When every I am with him
he keeps me safe and warm

He says you shouldn't worry
I am safe and loved right here
With all the other baby angels
that passed within the years

We have a special place up here
He thought that you should know
Where the Blessed Mother takes
your place for now until you show

When I hear this precious little voice
From the heavens above
I know that all the angels
are showering him with love

For everyone that wants to hear
their babies voice so innocent and sweet
Just close your eyes and begin to pray
and embrace them in your sleep.

by Janelle Carroll

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Wednesday was Interesting

It has been a long week! Today we went to Seabridge park and chillaxed with some people. Yesterday I dropped $425 on books for this semester at Talbot! Thursday was average but Wednesday was interesting.

I started off the day meeting with the guys from Simply Youth Ministry. Andy, Nadim, Riley and I went to lunch at their "secret" location. We had a fun time talking about the Simply Mission Trip that I MCed for them in conjunction with Group Workcamps Foundation. We also talked a lot about life (props for Andy who had his newest kid born on Friday) and pretty much goofed around. They are fun guys and we seemed to click. Andy invited me to stay and hang out at a youth pastors gathering and meet some people but I had already committed to joining my buddy Ethan Hedberg (Outreach Pastor @ Ambassador) in taking some much needed clothes and mattresses to a group of Bhutanese refugees situated in Covina, Ca.

I felt kinda like a goofball explaining to Andy and the crew that I believe God is calling me away from full-time Youth Ministry and more towards... well.. I'm not really sure. I would love to do some teaching/presenting/training and earn a little cash for school. Considering that, last week on the SYM Podcast, Matt and a few of other guys spent quite a bit of energy ripping on presenter/trainers who thought they had all the answers and wanted to make some money, I felt a little silly telling the Simply guys my plans. The Podcast was all in good fun and pretty entertaining to listen to but I am wondering if it wasn't in the back of the guys heads as we ate lunch and I talked about my hopes. I was kinda bummed to find out that Simply didn't have and curriculum trainers or presenters like Group (Simply's parent company). I represent Group as a Resources Adviser and get to drive around and present their VBS and other curriculum at different churches and bookstores. It's a fun gig but they come few and far between. Anywho... it would be fun to represent Simply but for now it is not possible.

Lunch was fun and the guys are great. I hope to hang out with them again sometime.

After lunch I drove over to Ikea with Ethan H. and looked at floor mattresses. As a church (really only a few people and Ethan) we are supporting two families that are refugees from Bhutan. They are housed in Covina, Ca which is about a 25min drive from Brea, Ca (the current location of Ambassador Church). So far they had been sleeping on the floor. Ethan, out of his own pocket, wanted to buy them some mattresses to make their meager existence a bit more comfortable. We found some at Ikea but they were extremely expensive. We were both praying that something would work out. Ethan would have only been able to afford two single mattresses for a family of five. On the way out we stopped by the clearance section where we found two mattresses (a queen and a full) for about the same price as the two singles. We recognized God at work and Ethan bought them.

We delivered the mattresses and spent some time with the families. It was a really cool experience. The families, who did not know each other before they moved into the apartment complex, share a fridge and just about anything else needed. They live in the ghetto where pot smoke drenched gang-bangers are the predominant fixture. Ethan and I were definitely out of place as everyone stopped to stare at the clean cut white guys carrying a load of stuff into the building. The language barrier was pretty immense but the Holy Spirit started sorting things out as we gained a bit of supernatural understanding along with one of the teens becoming comfortable enough with us to try out his English.

I talked to an 18 year old that was technically a Bhutanese refugee but had lived all of his life in a refugee camp in Nepal. His freedom was literally 2 weeks old. His attitude was great and all he wanted was a chance to check his e-mail and let his friends know he was ok. The other kids just wanted vegetables. The mom wanted a broom. We were given the only seats in the house as the mother served us Chia Tea from Nepal and the father attempted in some form of English/Nepalese to educate us on the plight of the Bhutanese in international political relations.

We are going back soon. God is doing something with here. I get to follow through with it while Ethan is off on maternity leave. Oh yeah, welcome to the world Elias Hedberg!!!!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Legit Questions about Disapointing Pastors

I came across this article tonight about a pastor in Australia that faked a terminal illness. Follow this link if you want to check it out. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24216087-5006787,00.html


Why is a life of integrity so hard to live? Do pastors epically struggle with this? I wonder if this guy wanted attention or some free PR for his song? It is a bummer that non-believers can point out things like this to solidify the claim of hypocrisy against Christians. What do you think? Is your faith shaken by something like this? Is your perception of Christianity changed or confirmed?


Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Way

Why do the words of the Psalms touch us so deeply? Especially those of David, the man who intimately knew the heart of God. I was reading one such Psalm in my personal devo tonight. It struck me.

Psalm 25:4-11

"Make Your ways known to me, LORD; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; I wait for You all day long. Remember, LORD, Your compassion and your faithful love, for they have existed from everlasting. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my acts of rebellion; in keeping with your faithful love, remember me because of Your goodness, LORD.

The Lord is good and upright; therefore He shows sinners the way. He leads the humble in what is right and teaches them His way. All of the LORD's ways show faithful love and truth to those who keep His covenant and decrees. Because of Your name, LORD forgive my sin, for it is great."
I believe this is the heart cry of God's created people. They want to know their creator and understand His ways. Think about what that would mean. Understanding God leads to greater understanding of one's self. Knowing the Creator sheds light on His creation. He is described in relational terms using words like: goodness, compassionate, loving, upright, and faithful. These words do not describe a God who is distant and preoccupied. They do not describe a God who is callous and uncaring. Rather they reveal the LORD who is personal, relational, and involved. David calls God to remember, not because God has forgotten but to make himself manifest. David wants God to reveal how He is sovereignly working and how He desires humanity to take part in His plan.

It also reminds me of another set of verses, an answer to David and humanities longing. Where Jesus, after revealing the New Commandment to love one another, answers a question... a question that seems simple but touches again the depths of humanities longing to be united with it's creator and His eternal purpose.

John 14:5-6

"Lord," Thomas said, "we don't know where You're going. How can we know the way?"

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

Jesus was not only answering Thomas, He was also addressing David and the rest of us. We begged God to show Himself and He did. We pleaded for His love to be made known and it was. We longed for a purpose to life and it came. In the form of Jesus Christ, through His sacrificial death on the cross, by His post-resurrection commission to go and make disciples. As a bonus we are even empowered, equipped and guided by His Spirit. We can thank David for putting words to the question. We can thank God for His faithfulness in answering it by the truth of His Son.